From Shield to Sword
by Maestro of Madness
Summary: A boy bathed in fire. His future as a shield no more as the flames melt the shield and forge something new. A sword. A blade to save others. No matter the world or how different it is he will always strive to save others. He will always be A Hero of Justice.
1. Prolouge

**From Shield to Sword**

 **Prologue**

 **Hell.** That is the best way to describe this place. A wave of flames consuming the city. Buildings collapsing from the chaotic force. People desperately trying to escape form this disaster. No. disaster isn't the right word. Disaster is to calm compared to the situation we have now. Cataclysm. That fits better.

Walking along the remains of a ruined street a lone boy makes his way through this hellscape, his blonde hair covered in dirt and ash. Reaching the end of the street he slowly makes his way up a mountain of rubble.The boy reaches the top of the mound and peers over the horizon, his blue eyes witnessing the scene that was spread out before him, _'How long? How long have I been here?_ 'He asks to himself as he makes his way down the other side of the mound, hoping the way he's heading will lead him out of this wasteland.

As he trudges his way down the mound he stumbles over a piece of rebar that's sticking out and begins to tumble, falling to the cracked ground below on his back.

He lays there for a moment, peering up to the smoke covered sky that had long since consumed the light of the stars and even the moon itself. _'I've been walking for what, minutes, hours? I don't even know how much longer can do this.'_ Slowly rolling over, he picks himself up and begins the hell march again.

Continuing his march, he begins to see figures in the distance. _'People? Other people?! Finally, I can make it out of here!'_ He begins to pick-up the pace, believing he's finally found a way out of this nightmare. _'I'm saved! I'm finally… saved?'_ Slowly… the last bits of hope begin to die. Just like those that lay before him. The figures he saw weren't people. At least… not **living** ones. What lays before are the partially charred corpses of other people who appeared to have been trying to escape the flames. He started to cry, beginning to accept the truth. He wasn't making it out of here alive.

With all hope lost he clings to the sheer desire to live, no matter how slim that may be. Continuing his desperate trek, he begins to hear something. _"Tasukete! Tasukete!"_ Following the screams, he comes to the sight of a woman holding her child trapped underneath fallen debris. " _Tasukete! Tasuketekudasai!_ " The woman looks to the sound of someone's approach and spots the boy, " _Otokonoko! Tasuketekudasai! Watashi no kodomo o sukuu_!" She tries to hold out the infant to him, hoping he'll take her child. Not understanding what the women was saying he lowly begins to walk towards the woman, but is soon stopped when more of the fire spreads, cutting off the path that led forward. " _Ie! Tasukete! Sukunakutomo watashi no kodomo o sukuu!_ " Slowly the woman's voice dies out as the flames consume her.

Trying his hardest to ignore what just occurred, he returns to his path. He comes across many more people, each pleading, begging, to be saved.

Watching as parents try to pull their children from rubble, only for more to fall and crush them. As lovers try to hold one another up only to fall and be devoured by the hungry flames, burning in each other's embrace.

He ignores them all. _'I'm sorry. I can't save you. I don't think I can even save myself anymore.'_ All he can do anymore is push forward and ignore the others that so desperately wanted to live. In a desperate attempt to live he begins to leave behind the things that made him who he is. His name, his memories, even his humanity. Everything sacrificed in the futile attempt to survive.

He begins to feel the last reserves of strength leave his legs as he falls over and collapses onto the ground, still warm from the fire's wrath. _'I can't go on anymore. This is it, isn't it? This this how I die. Even after I left so many others to die, even when I tried so hard to push forward?'_ Slowly the last of the light inside of him begins to die out and he feels death begin its cold, gentle embrace.

Rain begins to fall. The sky looks to be crying, as though the Heavens are attempting to put out the unholy fire. Minutes seem to pass by as he continues to slip away. He feels some rubble fall and land on his legs pinning them.

Slowly his arm stretches out in one last foolish attempt to pull himself from the fire. He begins to hear something. It's quite at first, drown out by the rain. The foot-steps grow closer as some of the rubble was removed from him.

He feels someone grip his outstretched hand and grasp it. His hollow eyes look upon the form of a man with dark hair, wearing a long coat and a suit underneath. His eyes are stained with tears and a smile upon his face as he begins to speak. " _Kare wa ikite iru! Kare wa ikite iru!_ " The man says, almost like a chant. " _Arigato_." The man says with joy seeping into his voice. ' _Why do you look so… happy? How did finding me make you happy?'_ The man seems to pull something out from his coat as the boy begins to lose conscious. The last thing he sees is a blinding light envelope everything. One final thought comes to mind before everything goes black. _'I wonder if I can ever be happy like that?'_

 **Hello everyone. Maestro here. This is my first story and I'm still working on the next couple of chapters and I'm not too sure how it feels quite yet so I wanted to get the prologue out there to see how it goes.**


	2. A new family

**Hey everyone Maestro here. I had chapter one done already so I wanted to get it out but don't expect this fast of an update for other chapters. I'm mostly only doing this because the prologue isn't that long so I wanted to add something to get more words in.**

 **I want to know what you guys think of me writing some of the dialogue in Japanese sense I'm not sure how well it's received so if you could please message me.**

 **Also, I want to thank everyone for favoriting and following me so far.**

 **Other than that, not much else. Now onto comments.**

 **Sonicdude8: That was pretty much my intention. The next 6 chapters or so will be spent showing changes and developing some relationships. Thanks again for following.**

 **Ghost33365: I don't blame you for not be fully invested yet so I hope this chapter helps.**

 **ENDDRAGON369: If you mean the child that was saved then no. It's not an OC, it's Jaune.**

 **Now onto the chapter**

 **From Shield to Sword**

 **Chapter 1**

 **A new family**

White. That was the first thing that greeted the boy's eye's when he woke up. Tilting his head slightly he looks out a window to his right. The clouds were few and far between as they slowly drift across the blue sky.

' _Where… am I?'_ His throat felt dry, as though he hadn't had anything to drink for a while. _"Anata wa megasamete iru yodesu."_ Turning to the sound of a voice he sees a nurse. She seems to be speaking a language he can't understand. It sounds like the what the woman in the fire was speaking. _"Watashi wa isha ni iku tsumoridesu."_ She spoke before she left the room.

With the nurse gone the child turns to look around the room. Other children appear to be either sleeping in other beds or looking at him with odd fascination. A few minutes' pass by and the door opens again, allowing a somewhat elderly looking man to enter. _"Dare ga me o samasu no ka. Go kibun wa kagadesu ka?"_ The doctor asks with a smile on his face. Confused the child pauses for a moment, not understanding what the man was saying. "What did you say?" He asks with a raspy voice.

" _Anata wa eigo o shaberimasu?"_ Both the doctor and nurse seem slightly surprised. The two look at him again with an odd look of realization, as though they remembered something obvious. _"Sodesu, watashi wa sore o shitte ita hazudesu."_ The doctor then coughs into his fist and closes his eyes in thought before speaking again. "How do you feel? Good? Bad?" The man's attempt to communicate seemed to have worked as the child seems to understand. Looking at the man for a moment the boy considers what he should say. "… Thirsty." He responds quietly.

"Ah, I see." The doctor turns to the nurse and motions for her to pour him a glass of water. "I need to ask questions. That okay?" Again, the child pauses before nodding. "Alright then, do you know where you are?" Slowly the boy shakes his head side to side in response. "Do you know your name?" He seems to think for a moment before responding.

"Jaune. My name is Jaune." Slowly the words form as he responds to the question. The doctor nods in response before continuing.

"Do you know your last name?"

Again, the boy pauses as he takes more time than before to answer. "….. I can't remember."

The doctor makes a worried expression before he turns to the nurse and seems to give her some instructions. She soon leaves and the doctor's focus returns to the boy again. "There is someone that wishes to see you. He said he wanted to speak with you after you woke up. We'll give him a call and inform him you're awake. Until then rest up and make sure to drink some more water.

The doctor soon leaves as well after checking on the other children. An hour seems to pass as he lays in the room, waiting for the man the doctor spoke of to come. Soon the door opens again and reveals a man. He looks somewhat ragged with a stubble of a beard growing. Quickly the child recognizes him as the one that saved him from the fire.

Slowly he walks towards the bed and sits in a chair nearby. He notices that the man seems to be somewhat sad. "You must be Jaune. They said you were awake, that's good. They also informed me that you speak English. I guess I should've know that from your appearance. You don't exactly look Japanese. Anyways my name is Kiritsugu Emiya. I'm sure you could already tell but I'm the one who pulled you from the fire."

He seems to give the boy a moment to process all the information that was given to him before he continues.

"Anyways I'll get right to it. I was wondering if you would rather be sent to an orphanage or be taken in by a man that you just met?"

He gives the boy time consider the options he was just given. His expression changes to several different forms of thought before he ultimately points to the man before him with a smile. Kiritsugu seems to be happy with his decision as his sorrowful expression transforms to one of pure joy.

"That's good. Then let's get you dressed right away, you're gonna need to get used to your new home as soon as possible. We'll also need to see about getting a tutor for you to speak Japanese."

The other children look at the two with mild interest as the man ruffles through his bag. He seems to mumble something to himself as if he was contemplating something. "Before we leave there's something you should know. You see Jaune, I am a Mage."

As soon as they had gotten permission to leave the hospital, the two left to settle into their new home. At first glance it appeared to be an open and spacious house, much larger than the other ones nearby. It was in the district of the city that was spared from the fire so there were no damages on it other than what appeared to be old age and lack of upkeep.

"I know it doesn't look like much now, but I'm preparing for some renovations to be made to it, although it should still be habitable. For now, just try and get settled in. Tomorrow we'll go into town and by you some new clothes to wear. All you have now is what I bought in the hospital shop so I'm sure you would like more than just that." Kiritsugu then led Jaune inside to show him around the house.

After the tour the two sat down to have lunch which consists of take out that they bought on the way home. "I have some associates coming over soon. Their people who'll be assisting me in getting the house back in working order." Kiritsugu informs Jaune. "The man who'll be helping us has a granddaughter who's several years older than you, but I hear she's very kind so you should get along nicely."

Shortly afterward the doorbell rings. "Ah, that's probably them. Wait here while I escort them in." Kiritsugu then leaves to greet their guests. As Jaune sits alone in the dining area he begins to go over the recent events that occurred. _'Kiritsugu said he was a Mage. That means he knows magic. Is that how he saved me? Did he use magic? If he used magic to save me, why couldn't he save the others in the fire?'_

It wasn't long before Kiritsugu returned with their guests. The first of their guests to appear is a short elderly man wearing a robe of some kind with a tiger pattern coat over it. _"So, kore wa anata ga saikin saiyo shita shonendesu. Watashi wa odoroite iru to iwanakereba naranai."_ The man's voice was deep but carried no malice, only mild interest as he addressed Kiritsugu. He spoke the language that Jaune couldn't understand, but he could tell he was talking about him.

He soon turned his attention to Jaune to introduce himself. "Hello my boy. My name is Raiga Fujimura. Kiritsugu tells me that you don't speak Japanese. I can see that that will be a problem. Luckily my granddaughter is currently studying English so I'm sure the two of you can help each other. Taiga why don't you introduce yourself?"

Shortly after he finished speaking a young girl who appeared to be in her early teens appeared around the corner. She raised her hand up in a salute and introduced herself. "Hello. My name is Taiga. Nice to meet you." She spoke in broken English and struggled to finish, barely managing to complete the introduction.

They all sit down to discuss plans for the renovation. Raiga said that he would send over some of his men to assist with the reconstruction. Jaune figures he must be a construction contractor if he has men to help them with the renovations.

An hour passes as the talks continue. Jaune has begun to doze off before his head falls into Kiritsugu's lap. The man's lips curl slightly upwards before turning back to his guests. "We should probably wrap this up. Jaune's had a long day and probably wants some rest. We can discuss more another day. The two of us are going into town tomorrow to pick out clothes for Jaune, though I'm afraid I don't know much about what kids wear now a day."

" _Doshite karera to issho ni ikanai no Taiga? Anata ni Jaune to sugosu tame no yori oku no jikan o ataerudeshou_." Raiga asks his granddaughter.

" _Sore wa tanoshi-soda. Watashi wa Jaine no tame ni kawai fuku o erabudeshou."_ Taiga responds energetically.

"With that settled we'll leave so you two can get some rest." Raiga said as he prepares to leave. Taiga follows him and waves goodbye as the two leave the Emiya residence. Kiritsugu finishes seeing the two off before helping Jaune get to his new room. He lays Jaune in his futon and bids his new son good night, the day finally ending for the new family.

Kiritsugu wakes to the sound of screams echoing throughout the house. He believes it to be an intruder before dismissing it. _'If it was an intruder then the Bounded Field would have picked up any intent for harm and woken me up.'_ Quickly he gets up and grabs Thomson Contender that he kept hidden and runs to Jaune's room. "Jaune! Are you alright? I heard screaming!" What he sees when he arrives in the young boy's room is not an intruder, merely a young boy screaming and thrashing around.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I can't save you. I can't save anyone." He keeps repeating the same words over and over again like a chant. Kiritsugu soon realizes that they aren't under attack. Jaune is suffering from the memories of the fire, and those that called out for him to save them. He slowly approaches his son and pulls him into a hug trying to comfort him. _'We're the same, aren't we? Neither one of us could save someone. No. That's not true. I saved you, didn't I? And in return you saved me.'_

He continues to hold his crying son's sleeping form which shows no signs of stopping. _'It won't do any good for him to continue living with this nightmare. I need to try and alleviate it.'_ Slowly Kiritsugu opens his magic circuits and attempts to use them to calm Jaune's mind. He puts his hand on Jaune's forehead and begins to push mana into him.

' _That's strange. This shouldn't be this difficult. Did the Grail do something to my circuits?'_ He quickly discards the thought for now and focuses on the task at hand. _'I need to focus on Jaune's health right now. If I lose concentration I could make things worse.'_

While pushing mana into his body Kiritsugu realizes something truly surprising. _'WHAT! He has magic circuits. But how? He shouldn't be from a mage family. The only mage families in Fuyuki are the Matou's and the Tohsaka's. Is it possible that Jaune is from another mage family that was visiting Fuyuki?'_ He puts the problem aside for now as Jaune seems to be calming down.

He sets his son down to return to sleep and leave but is stopped when he feels something tug at his yukata and looks down to see Jaune's tiny hand gripping it. He lets a smile come to his lips as he decides to lay down next to Jaune and get some rest. _'I've opened his magic circuits with what I just did. I planned to keep him away from_ _ **that**_ _world, but it seems I no longer have a choice. If he has circuits that function, then any magus can pick up on him if he doesn't know how to conceal them. Looks like I have more work on my hands. Honestly, what were the chances that the one person I saved would have magic circuits.'_ Slowly sleep begins to take him as he drifts off to sleep.

The following day the new father and son pair, along with an energetic little tiger, headed into town to get new clothes for Jaune. As neither of the two males knew what to look for in kids clothes it was up to Taiga to choose what suited Jaune best. "Try this. It make you look cute." Taiga was taking this opportunity to try and improve her English. Kiritsugu said that he would be her private tutor and help her with her English as thanks for her help today. Though he had a more trial by fire type of approach as he only spoke to her in English.

Jaune looked at the clothes that Taiga had picked out for him and tried them on. The first one he tried on was a long sleeved blue shirt and blue jeans. "It look good on you. Try this next." She said as she held out another set of clothes for him to try out. This continued for almost an hour as Taiga began to make Jaune her own personal dress up doll.

"Alright this is last one!" Jaune breathed a sigh of relief as his time in this place was finally coming to an end. "Here try this on!" As Jaune looked to his tormentor with hopeful eyes his mind comes to an abrupt stop as he realizes what she's holding. In her hands was an orange and white frilled dress. A dress ment for girls.

Jaune begins to take steps back in a fruitless attempt to escape the embarrassing situation that is about to unfold. He looks to his father in a desperate attempt to receive some assistance, but it was pointless as his father simply looked away with a smirk on his face, feigning ignorance to the situation before him.

"Come on. I think you will look so cute. Try it. Try it." Taiga says as she draws closer with a crazed look in her eyes. On the plus side her English seems to be improving. Jaune makes one final attempt to escape by running, but is swiftly stopped by a strong pair of arms wrapping around him picking him up and dragging him into the changing room. "I cannot wait to see you in this. You will look so cute!" A few moments after they enter the changing room a girlish shriek can be heard coming from it as the other customers choose to ignore it.

When the three return from their trip Taiga quickly waves goodbye, but not before promising to take Jaune out shopping again another time. Jaune swiftly ran inside after this to hide from his tormentor. Kiritsugu follows seeing Taiga off and enters his home, carrying the bags of new clothes and groceries they picked up on the way home.

Entering his home, he walks down the hall and drops off the bags of clothes in Jaune's room before heading to the kitchen where puts the groceries away. He notices Jaune hiding under the table and looking up from under it to glare at him. The two stare at each other for a few seconds before Jaune finally speaks up.

"You left me alone to suffer that torture." Jaune asks with anger beginning to roll from his voice as he continues to glare at the man who he'll have to start calling father.

Kiritsugu simply smirks before he walks over to Jaune and kneels to his level. "Sorry about that, but she seemed pretty scary and I didn't want to make her angry. How can I make it up to you?"

Jaune keeps his angry glare for a little longer before closing his eyes in thought. He then slowly opens his eyes and looks at Kiritsugu with determination. "I want you to show me how to be a Mage." Jaune's voice is filled determination, as though saying he won't take no for an answer.

Kiritsugu looks as though he was expecting this eventually. He lets out a tired sigh before he speaks. "Come out from under their Jaune."

Jaune begins to crawl out from under the dining table and sit across from Kiritsugu. "Why do you want to learn Magecraft? Do you think it's something you can use for fun?" Kiritsugu asks while adorning a serious expression.

Jaune takes a moment to come up with a proper response to the question he was just asked. "… I want to learn magic so what happened in the fire never happens again. I left so many people to die and I couldn't do anything to help them. If it wasn't for you I would've been ash in the wind with everyone else." Jaune replies as he lowers his head. His hands ball into fists as they begin to shake. "I don't ever want that to happen again. I don't care how weak I am. All I want is the strength to save people whenever I come across them. I don't want to just sit by and watch others suffer again when I can do something to help."

Kiritsugu looks to his son with a slightly sorrowful expression before he eventually speaks again. "Jaune, you should know that if you choose to learn Magecraft then you'll be entering a very dangerous world. Your life can be taken at any moment. There are those in the magical world that won't care if you're a child or not. If it'll further their own goals and research, then they'll sacrifice you and use you as an experiment if they can. The moment you step into this world there is no going back."

A pregnant silence fills the air, the tension so high that it can be cut with a knife as the two stare off. Jaune finally finds the words for his response and gives his reply. "Then teach me to overcome those who'll come after me. Teach me to be strong enough to fight off those who'll try and use me. Teach me to be smart enough to escape from those who'll try and capture me. But you must teach me either way. I want to become a mage. If you don't show me then I'll just have to learn on my own." Finishing his short speech Jaune looks to Kiritsugu with one last look of resistance.

Kiritsugu simply looks to his son with frustration across his face before eventually giving in. "If I do teach you there's no going back. The moment you set foot in this world there's no return. Are you sure that's what you want?"

He asks for one last conformation before the decision is finalized. Without hesitation Jaune gives response filled with more determination than someone his age should possess. "Yes. I'm absolutely sure."

"Then we should get started immediately. You're starting later than most so we'll have to rush a little of the teaching. Don't expect to have any breaks because there won't be any if you want to have any hope of surviving in your new world." Jaune nods in response and the rest of the day is spent going over the very basics of magecraft. From magic circuits to the elements to origins and the Mages Association.

"Listen Jaune, under no circumstances are you allowed to use magecraft without my supervision. You're inexperienced and you could damage your circuits if you overload them. Another thing, never use magecraft in front of non-magic people. The very existence of magic is something most in the world believe to be fantasy. If the Association finds out that you used magic in front of regular people, then they'll send people to kill both you and those that know about it." Jaune nods in understanding before the close the discussion for the day.

As they get ready for dinner Kiritsugu pulls out the instant meals that he bought for them to eat. "You know that's not good for you, right?"

Jaune states as Kiritsugu heats of the water to pour into the noodle cups. "I know, but I've never been good at cooking so it's the best I've got." Was his only response to his son's statement.

The two silently finish dinner and prepare for bed. "Tomorrow we'll start you're actual training with teaching you how to use your circuits." With that the two head to bed.

Kiritsugu sits on the porch outside his room as he looks up to the moon. _'If he really wants any hope of surviving in the Moonlight World he'll need all the help he can get. I might even have to give him_ _ **that.**_ _'_ He thinks to himself before he shakes his head. _'No, it's far too early for that. I have no idea what his capability is anyways.'_

Kiritsugu seems to think a little more about his decision before going to bed. _'Well at least I can prep him for it if need be.'_

 **Well that's chapter one. I know this may seem slow but it'll only take about 4 or 5 more chapters before we get to the start of canon so don't be too depressed. If you're wondering why I skipped over some of the magic stuff at the end it's because it's done so often in other stories that I feel like people get the idea. Other than that, I hope you people enjoyed the chapter and leave a comment if you have anything to say. Also if you can guess what Kiritsugu is referring to at the end of the chapter I'll give you a shout out.**


	3. The Training Begins

**Hey Maestro here. I wanted to let people know that I'm gonna have a poll for what you may like the pairing to be. I won't say it'll affect the actual pairing I have envisioned but I wanna see who I'm working with.**

 **Sonicdude8: Thanks. As for the Japanese, anything Jaune doesn't understand will be seen in Japanese and anything he does understand will be seen in English in italics. It's supposed to be from Jaune's point of view so what he doesn't understand we won't understand.**

 **Darkjaden: While it is possible to have two origins Avalon changed his origin so I feel like it should override a dual origin.**

 **ZenithTempest: No, it's on Earth. For now.**

 **LightingStrife: Thanks.**

"Talking"

'Thinking'

" _Japanese or flashback'_

 **From Shield to Sword**

 **Chapter 2**

 **The Training Begins.**

Jaune woke up at the crack of dawn the next day. He couldn't sleep to well as he kept having the same dream of that day again, plus he wanted to spend as much time studying magecraft as he can.

He just forgot one thing.

He had to wait for his dad to wake up.

At first, he just sat in the kitchen and waited for him to wake up. He got bored after the first ten minutes. He tried to occupy his time by going through cook books that Kiritsugu bought yesterday in a vain attempt to learn some new recipes, but seemed to completely forget about that idea for the easier solution of just making instant meals.

Jaune decided to pick an easy recipe to start out with. They didn't have much in the way of ingredients. They only had some bananas, flour, milk, vegetables and some other necessities. He chose to make pancakes as it seemed to be the easiest to make, plus he could make more than enough for two people.

It took him a few tries to get the measurements right, but he finally got it on the fourth attempt. It was almost 7 when he finished making breakfast. _'Maybe I made too much.'_ He thought as he looked at the two dozen pancakes that covered the counter top.

He heard footsteps as he began to set the table and turned to see his dad entering the room. "You're up early. Did you sleep well?" With the incident from the night before he was worried he wasn't sleeping well.

Jaune took a minute to respond as he set the plates down. "I slept alright. Still getting used to this place I guess." He didn't want to worry his dad so he chose to lie. "I decided to try making breakfast while I waited. It's not much, but it's better than instant food."

As he finished the doorbell rang. "I'll go see who it is. You go ahead a start eating." Jaune left the dining room to greet their guest. When he opened the door, he was greeted to the sight of Taiga's smiling face. _"Ohayo, Jaune-chan._ That means good morning." Taiga greeted Jaune cheerily.

" _O-ohayo Fujimura."_ Taiga smiled as she waved her finger side to side. "No, no. Not Fujimura. Fuji-nee. I am your big sister now so it is Fuji-nee. Can you say it? Fu-ji-nee."

Jaune seemed to be reeling back as he took a moment to collect himself. _"Ohayo, Fuji-nee."_ He responded shyly. She quickly scooped him up in a hug and spun around. _"Totemo kawai. Watashi wa kawai ototo o motte iru."_ She soon let him down and they moved into the kitchen.

"Good morning, Kiritsugu-sensei. How are you?" Taiga greets Kiritsugu as she enters the dining area.

Kiritsugu looks up with a smile as he greets their guest. "I'm good Taiga-chan. How are you this morning?"

She sits down at the table as Jaune went to get another plate for her. "I am doing good. I am getting ready for school."

' _She seems to at least be able greet people now and respond as such. After just one day too. Her dedication to learning English is incredible.'_ Jaune thought as he brought her a plate with 3 pancakes on it for her.

Almost as soon as he set down the plate the pancakes seemed to have disappeared. Blinking he looked between the plate and Taiga. _'At least I don't have to worry about the extra pancakes now.'_ He picked up the now empty plate and returned to the kitchen to get some more for her.

Taiga made short work of the pancakes, eating over half of them by herself. She would've eaten more if Jaune and Kiritsugu didn't have to eat a well. "Thank you for the breakfast Jau-chan. It was really good." Taiga thanked Jaune as she got up and began to head to the front door. "I need to get going to school. See you later."

With Taiga gone the father and son pair are left alone again. "That reminds me. I should look into getting you enrolled in school. We can go over more of this later. For now, we need to discuss your magecraft training."

Quickly cleaning the kitchen, the pair leaves for the shed to begin practicing. "First we need to open up your magic circuits. That way you'll be able to begin to preform magecraft. After that we'll see if we can figure out your element and origin. That should be all we can do today."

"That's it? Didn't you say we would have to rush my training because I'm starting so late?"

"After we activate your circuits you won't be able to move around much from the shock of being flooded with mana for the first time. You'll spend the rest of the day learning more about the magecraft and basic concepts." Kiritsugu informed Jaune.

As the two arrived at the old shed the iron door creaked open. A musky old smell poured out from the shed as the two entered. Upon entering Jaune looked at his surrounding, he took in the shed that he would be practicing in.

"So, what do we do first?" When he didn't get a response, he turned to see his father staring at an area of the shed towards the back corner. He paused for a moment as to what he should say to get his attention. After a few moments, he finally decided on what would work best. _"… Ne…_ _Otou-san."_ This grabbed the father's attention as he turned to his son. Jaune was worried that he did something wrong by calling him dad, but that quickly disappeared when his dad's lips curled up into a smile.

" _Gomen…_ _Musuko."_ He seemed to pause for a moment, as though he finally realized that the boy standing before him is son now. "I was just thinking about something. Let's get started. First take off your shirt and sit down over there."

Jaune did as instructed and removed his shirt and sat down as instructed. Kiritsugu kneeled behind his son as he places his hand on his back. "Alright, I'm about to open you magic circuits. Be ready, you may go into shock." Kiritsugu then began the process of slowly opening Jaune's magic circuits.

' _Alright, so far so good.'_ "Guh!" A pained grunt escaped from the son's mouth as he flinches. "Jaune, are you alright?" Kiritsugu asked concerned that his declining proficiency with his own circuits is causing Jaune pain.

"I'm fine dad. Just a little warm is all." Jaune responded in a somewhat strained voice. "Keep going, like you said I don't have the luxury of taking it slow."

Kiritsugu looked to his son with concern for a moment longer before continuing the act. "It shouldn't be much longer, a couple more seconds and we should be done." Jaune seemed to relax a little after hearing that as he body became less stressed. _'1… 7… 15… 28… 36… 42! He has 42 magical circuits. I haven't heard of some random citizen ever having this many! There are few magi in the world that possess this many. Just who are you Jaune?'_

As they finished up Kiritsugu instructed Jaune to put his shirt back on. "Next we'll try and discern your element and origin. We'll be using these tarot cards to do so."

Kiritsugu began to shuffle the cards and place them out onto the floor. "That's odd. I can't seem to discern your element. It almost seems to be in flux."

Jaune looks to his dad hesitantly. "Is that a bad thing?" He asks believing that he screwed something up.

"I wouldn't say it's bad. More like an anomaly. I've heard that it's possible to change one's element by force but it's usually a very painful experience. I wonder if your origin is the same?" Kiritsugu then checked his origin to discover that it was also in a state of flux like his element.

' _I wonder what could be causing this. Maybe something from the fire is causing him to undergo some sort of change? I'll try to look more into it later._ Picking up the cards the father looks to his son with a curious look. _You're just becoming more and more of a mystery aren't you Jaune.'_ "That will be all for today. Tomorrow I'll start showing you how to properly use your magic circuits. For now, let's just go and rest." Jaune followed his dad out of the shed as they head towards the house to relax.

The next following days were busy as workers came over to help with the remodeling of the Emiya residence. Taiga would stop by after school to help with the management, but really all she did was beat those that started to slack off with her personally decorated kendo sword. Jaune wanted to help so he gathered small boxes of things and moved them to either the trash or out to the shed to be stored. Meanwhile Kiritsugu say in a chair resting in the middle of the courtyard, watching as they men worked on his home.

They remodeled the home during the day and practicing magecraft late into the night. Lately Kiritsugu has been giving Jaune medicine saying that it should help with his recovery from the fire and help him adjust to using magic easier. He seemed adamant about doing so, even though Jaune said that he's been feeling fine and that he didn't need it, but quickly shut up after hearing it would help with his magecraft studying.

He didn't seem to have any talent when it came to any spells outside of structural analysis and reinforcement. Any other spell them attempted fizzled out after an attempt.

"Try not to let it get you down. Knowing a lot of spells isn't what's important. It's about being adept at using the ones you can use. Your reinforcement is very impressive for someone your age. For now, let's move onto Projection. Projection is the ability to create whatever the user imagines."

Jaune just looked up in shock. "I-It can create anything?! Doesn't that make it a powerful spell?! I mean you could make a gun or a bomb or maybe armor with it, right?" Jaune was filled with ideas of what he could create with this spell. _'If I can master this spell at least then I really can do something with magecraft.'_

Kiritsugu looked to his son for a moment with a smile on his face as he began to shake his head. "I'm afraid it doesn't work like that. You see, Projection has another name, Gradation Air. It's called such because the item you create with it will disappear shortly after you make it. Even then if you don't have a clear image of what you want to make then the item will be fragile and shatter easily."

This seemed to dishearten Jaune for a moment before he asked a question. "Then what's the point of learning it? If it's not much help, then what can I use it for?" The son asked his father in a tone that sounded more questioning than pessimistic.

"Projection may not be very useful to most, but there are still those who can use it more proficiently. Some can keep them around for minutes if they want to. For now, just try let's just try it out. If it doesn't work out, then we can just skip over it and move onto something else."

Jaune seemed to resign himself to the idea and went ahead with his father's instructions. He began by flooding his magic circuits with mana and began to listen to his father's instructions. "First begin with imagining the kitchen knife you use every day." A short blade with a wooden black handle appeared within his mind as he remembered the tool. "Next think of what the materials are that make up the blade. The more accurate you are the better the projection will be." Jaune began to list the types of materials that could go into making the knife. _'Stain less steal, a maple wood handle, rivets to keep the handle connected to the blade…'_

The father looked on as his son was finishing up the concept of the tool. "Alright, now begin to give the blade a physical shape with your mana. Feel it begin to form in your hand as it becomes more solid from the clear image you have of it." Jaune visibly began to focus more as he began to show signs of sweat beginning to form. Slowly the spectral image of a knife began to form in the palm of Jaune's out stretched hand, becoming clearer by the second.

Jaune gripped the handle as the knife finished forming. He handed it to his father to let him inspect it. "I gotta say this is a pretty good projection. It's amazing it's lasted this long." Soon afterward the projection dissolved into particles of light as the World rejected its existence. Jaune lowered his head believing it to be another failed attempt at magecraft. _'Can't I have at least some talent for magecraft. I can only do incredibly simple stuff that any novice can use.'_

Kiritsugu looked at his dejected son frowning before gaining a reassuring smile. "You can't get discouraged just yet. That's was an excellent attempt. In fact, it was incredible for a first attempt. Most who try this spell don't get their projection to last more than an instant after the first few tries. Even more experienced mages can't create projections for nearly as long. For someone so young your imagination was very concentrated."

Jaune seemed to be a little more reassured believing that he may have finally found something he can do. "We'll call it a day. Let's head back and get ready for dinner. Taiga-chan should be getting here soon for her tutoring anyways."

The pair return to the house to settle in for the night. Jaune had been increasing his cooking abilities along with cleaning and other housework over the past few weeks sense his dad couldn't (wouldn't) do much.

He's had great strides in his cooking talents. _"If you had as much talent for magecraft as you did for cooking you would probably be one of the greatest mages of all time."_ Kiritsugu said this once after Jaune had begun to make more complex dishes and has teased him from time to time to look at the irritated look on his son's face. As a parent, it's his right to tease his child after all, at least that's what he tells Jaune.

All Jaune could do is grumble and continue to cook their meals. He didn't let his father's teasing get to him. Nope. Not at all. He totally didn't sneak wasabi in his takoyaki. He wasn't a spiteful person like that. He's a good son.

Suddenly a thunderous stampede can be heard approaching as the front door slams open and the perpetrator appears in the kitchen door way.

" _I'm home!"_ The intrud- I mean guest announced loudly. _"Good morning, Taiga-chan." "Good morning, Fuji-nee."_

Taiga had been visiting the two almost every night for the past few weeks to eat dinner with them along with her lessons with Kiritsugu. Both Taiga and Jaune have been taking lessons to learn both Japanese and English. Kiritsugu is harder on Taiga as he only speaks in English towards her while with Jaune he tries to teach him every day dialogue that he might use. Kiritsugu said that his admission to school would be coming up soon so they had to pick up the pace a little.

As the trio sat down to eat Taiga went on about her day in school. Jaune seemed to pay attenuative attention while Kiritsugu just nodded absent mindedly as they ate. "Then Otoko started to nag at me for sleeping in class, saying that if I want to become a teacher then I should pay more attention to what our teachers do during class so I can learn more. Seriously though we always get into fights. If it wasn't for Reikan we would probably end up pummeling each other."

As they wrapped up dinner Jaune took the plates and began to wash them. "Hey Jau-chan, Reikan said he has a younger brother around your age. I think you two should play together. It'd be more fun to play with kids your own age then cleaning and cooking in this house all day."

Jaune hadn't spent much time outside of the Emiya residence other than shopping for groceries or visiting the Fujimura residence. Most of his time is spent either cooking, cleaning, training magecraft or learning Japanese. "I don't know, my Japanese isn't that well yet and I might mess up." Doubts begin to seep into Jaune's head before he quickly shakes his head and tries to change the subject. "Anyways Fuji-nee have you thought about what I said? Will you help me practice kendo like you do?"

Earlier in the week Taiga had been talking about how her kendo training had hit a wall sense there weren't any more people who would train with her. Any that did were swiftly crushed by her dominating attacks and quickly sent off to the nurse. Jaune had asked if she would be willing to help teach him kendo, that way she would have someone who she could practice with, even if they weren't on her level.

Taiga put a finer to her chin as she tilts her head to the side in thought. "Hmmmmmm. I don't know. I would love to have my little brother become a kendo master like myself, but I'm not too good at holding back." She begins to consider what to do with the issue at hand. A metaphorical lightbulb seems to form over her head as she comes to a conclusion. "Tell you what, if you make friends with Reikan's little brother than I'll teach you kendo. Deal?"

Taking a moment to consider his options Jaune nods his head in acceptance. "Fine. I'll meet him. I'll probably be good for me to get outside anyways. I can't just laze around the house like my old man." Jaune says as he takes a jab at his dad.

Kiritsugu looks up from the newspaper he was reading to give his son a mild glare before returning to his reading. The two have been getting used to each other's presence at an almost incredible rate considering they've only known each other for a little over a month. Kiritsugu will sometimes tease Jaune and say things in Japanese that he can't understand to frustrate him from time to time while Jaune would take jabs at Kiritsugu's laziness with him usually laying around the house and acting more like a kid than even he does.

Kiritsugu sets down his finished newspaper and pours himself another cup of tea. "Speaking of getting out of the house, with school beginning for you soon you should try and get out of the house more anyways. You can get more practice in by walking around and talking to people than you can by just talking to me. I think it's a good idea."

Taiga jumps at the motion Kiritsugu puts forth, readily agreeing with him. "See, even your dad thinks so. It's not good for someone to sit around this house with your only company a lazy old man. Your only relief being an amazingly beautiful _Onee-san._ " Jaune and Kiritsugu just send a blank look to the girl who subtly insulted them both.

Kiritsugu stood up, casting his gaze to the clock on the wall, and began to prepare for bed. "It's getting late. You should be getting home Taiga-chan."

As Jaune finished up cleaning he appeared in the entrance hallway and began to put his shoes on. "I'll walk her home. It's dangerous for her to walk alone." _'Dangerous for others that is.'_

He was quickly scooped up in a bone crushing hug as the perpetrator began to spin him around in place. "I have the best _Ototo_. He's trying to protect his _Onee-chan_ like a big hero. SO CUTE!"

The two left the house and made their way to the Fujimura residence, having small talk along the way. They soon arrived at the tiger's den and bid each other good night. "I'll tell Reikan you want to meet his brother tomorrow and set up a play date. It's about time you stop being such a loner. I'll see you tomorrow my cute _ototo_."

The young mage said goodbye to the wild tiger and made his way back home and slip into bed, letting the day come to an end.

 **That's chapter two. Expect these maybe once or twice a week. Also, if you didn't read at the top I'm gonna have a poll to see what people like for the pairing. I won't say if it'll affect the actual pairing but I won't say it won't.**

 **Anyways goodbye for now.**


	4. New Friend

**Hey everyone it's Maestro. I'm back with another chapter. This and the next chapter should be the last one's before we get to cannon. Some have been asking where the RWBY stuff is and all I'll say is… wait for part 2. If that's how I do it that is.**

 **The poll seems to be going well. The current standing is down below.**

 **Artoria: 14**

 **Medusa: 11**

 **Pyrrha: 11**

 **Ruby: 9**

 **Rin: 7**

 **Medea: 7**

 **Sakura: 6**

 **Yang: 5**

 **Neo: 5**

 **Blake: 4**

 **Illya: 3**

 **Weiss:3**

 **Velvet: 2**

 **Cinder: 2**

 **Glynda: 2**

 **Leysritt: 1**

 **Sella: 1**

 **Coco: 1**

 **Gotta say I'm kinda sad Sakura isn't higher. Also, Neo is way higher than I expected. Medea and Medusa are also shocking to see above others in the rankings. The only other thing I'm kinda sad about is how high Pyrrha is. Don't get me wrong I like Pyrrha, but I am horribly burnt out on Arkos. Practically every other Jaune pairing is Arkos. Again, I don't hate it. It's just way over done to me.**

 **Enough about all that onto reviews.**

 **LightingStrife: Avalon is the thing that changed his origin into sword. It's stated a few times in the visual novel. Also, I have no idea what I would do if his origin was shield.**

 **Lazymanjones96: Thanks.**

 **Dragonsword1000: He will be stronger than Shirou was in any route.**

 **Neema Amiry: Sorry it's gonna happen.**

 **Blinded in a bolthole: He didn't understand Japanese at first but he does now. Also, it's now Ministralion, they are on Earth and in Japan. Ya he does fell somewhat oc right now but I just started it so he won't instantly be his regular goofy self. Not yet at least. Give it time for Jaune to actually grow a little and then you'll see the usual but slightly altered Jaune.**

 **From Shield to Sword**

 **Ch 3**

 **First Friend**

Well, it's here. Today was the day. The day he tries to make his first friend. Try being the key word.

" _How do you expect me to make friends with him?! Look at him! He looks like a delinquent with his blonde hair and menacing face!"_

' _My face isn't menacing. Fuji-nee say's it's cute. Exotic. Not Menacing.'_

" _Stop that Issei! It's rude to judge others because of their appearance! Did father raise you that way?"_

Ever sense Taiga brought him on this play date it's been nothing but constant screaming. They arrived at Ryuudou Temple ten minutes and meet Reikan at the entrance. He seemed like a nice enough person. When he first met Reikan's younger brother, Issei, the young monk in training had been giving Jaune a cold glare as if judging him solely because of his appearance.

It seems that Issei is a very strict person who is very negative to those who give off a bad impression to him. With Jaune's very distinct lack of Japanese features Issei was skeptical about his character.

" _He looks like a disrespectful delinquent. How am I supposed to get along with someone like that?!"_

" _Ummm, you know I can speak Japanese, right?"_ Having grown tired of just sitting on the side lines Jaune finally spoke off.

The brothers turned to their guest with some mild shock, not expecting him to speak. Reikan coughed into his fist and turned to address their guests. _"Well Jaune it's nice to finally meet you. Taiga has spoken about you so many times that I wanted to meet you for myself."_ He rested his hand on Issei's shoulder and pushed him forward to introduce him. _"This is my younger brother, Issei. Go on and introduce yourself Issei."_

Issei looked reluctant as his brother shoves him. Issei looks Jaune in the eyes before looking down and bowing. _"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Ryuudou Issei."_

Jaune looks to the blue haired boy before bowing himself. " _It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Emiya Jaune."_

Issei looks up with red dusting his checks in embarrassment. Reikan laughs at the awkward situation his brother put himself in before speaking up. _"Why don't we take this inside and get something to eat."_

Reikan led the four inside, passing several other monks who stared at Jaune for a moment before continuing with their business.

" _I'm sorry for the others. We don't get many foreigners up here often."_ Reikan apologized to Jaune as he led them into the dining area located towards the back of the temple.

" _It's alright, I'm used to it."_ A lot of the neighbors around his home gave him odd looks sometimes, but waved it off eventually. Foreigners aren't exactly new to the people of Fuyuki, but they're mostly in the foreigner section of Miyama.

Reikan shook his head disapprovingly at the idea that it's just a normal thing. _"All the more reason for me to say something about it. From what Taiga tells me that you're a very nice boy so it's unfair for you to have to be treated like this."_

Arriving at the dining area the group gathered around the table, Jaune sitting next to Taiga with Issei sitting next to Reikan across from him.

" _I wish I could offer you something to eat, but it seems we forgot we were low on groceries."_ Reikan apologizes to his guests for the lack of hospitality.

' _Chance.'_ Taiga's eye's flash at the opportunity that has so kindly presented itself to them. _"That's alright. In fact, Ja-chan made some lunch for us. He's the one that makes my lunches everyday so I can guarantee that you'll love it."_

Pulling out a small stack of boxed lunches Taiga hands them out for everyone to try.

" _So, you're the one who makes Taiga's lunch every day. She always hordes her food during lunch and won't let anyone try it. She always seems to enjoy them so I'm sure it'll be good."_ Reikan opens the boxed lunch to see some fried rice along with chicken covered in sauce.

While the older of the two siblings looks happy to be receiving such a nice looking lunch the younger sibling looks less thrilled.

Reikan picks up a piece of his chicken with his chopsticks and begins to eat the delicious looking meal. Issei looks to his brother concerned what effect the other boy's meals will have on him.

Taking a few bites Reikan lets out a pleased sigh before turning to the young cook. _"This incredible. For someone so young to be able to so well is amazing."_

Issei looks in shock as his brother complements the boy before returning to his meal with an odd sense of vigor. _"See, I told you my little brother's cooking is amazing."_ The surrogate sister grabs her little brother and pulls him into a crushing hug. Both brothers notice that her lunch had already disappeared.

" _Fuji-nee! I can't- I can't breathe."_ Jaune attempts to tap out as he begins to see blackness creep into his vision.

Looking on as the tiger crushes its prey, Issei looks to is food curiously at how good of a cook the foreigner is. Taking a piece of the chicken he mimics his brother and bites into his meal.

Suddenly, the world exploded. The colors around him seemed more vibrant, the bird's chirps sounded so peaceful, and the sun seemed to shine brighter. Issei had been more in tuned with his surroundings then he had ever been.

" _Um, is everything alright?"_

Recovering from his near Nirvana state the young monk looks to the one who spoke to him, seeing the cook himself looking back at him.

Issei stares at Jaune for a moment surprised before adorning a regretful face. He soon stands and walks over to Jaune before getting down on his knees and bowing apologetically to the one he had insulted earlier.

" _I am deeply sorry for my actions earlier. I had assumed that you were a troublesome person based on your appearance. Even though I have been raised to be fair and treat all equally I acted rash and insulted you before getting to even know you."_ The prostrater raises himself and looks Jaune straight in the eyes. _"But now I know. Anyone who can cook such fantastic and pure food must possess an equally pure soul."_

Jaune was confused as to what to do with this situation, looking to the other two in the room for help. Reikan seems pleased that his brother has seen the fault in his assumption of his hopefully soon to be friend. Taiga on the other hand seems over joyed at the scene before her. Her brother is finally gonna have a friend.

Jaune's hand is quickly grasped by Issei who looks at him with determined eyes. _"Please, there has to be something I can do to make it up to you. Anything! With how I've offended you it only seems right!"_

All Jaune can do is look awkward in the position he's been put in. Taking a moment to think on how to respond he replies. _"Well…. There might be something. I came here today because Fuji-nee thought I should try and make a friend. She can be kinda hard headed when it comes to trying to get others to do what she wants. So, it would help a lot if you could help with that."_

Issei turns away from the pure soul before him that seems to shine with a blinding light. _'To pure! His soul is just to pure!'_ Regaining his composure Issei accepts Jaune's outstretched hand in friendship. _"I would be honored to be your friend."_

The older siblings watched the two carry on with their own conversation ranging from Jaune asking about what school is like to Issei wondering how he was able to get his chicken to taste so fantastic. Most of Issei's questions seemed to revolve around food.

" _Thank you for this."_ The older sister speaks her gratitude for her friend helping to set this up. _"I was worried how Jaune would be when he got to school if he didn't make some friends first so I'm glad this worked out."_

Her classmate simply shook his head at her appreciation, _"I should be the one thanking you. Issei may have a good heart, but he can be very thick headed at times. Especially when it comes people his own age. He's mature for his age, but at the same time still very childish."_

Laughing at her friends comment she sees how the two children could get along so well. They were pretty much the same.

The day continued with the two boys talking with one another as the sun began to set.

" _It's getting late, we should probably get going."_ Taiga helps Jaune gather the empty boxed lunches and begins to head out the front door. _"Thanks for having us. We'll come by again sometime. Say goodbye Ja-chan."_

Waving to the two brothers he bids them goodbye as he heads down the temple stairs with Taiga to head home.

"So, how did it go?" After returning home Taiga joined the father and son for dinner which Jaune prepared. Kiritsugu had been curious to know how the meeting went seeing as it was Jaune's first time trying to make a friend his own age.

Taiga looked up from her meal at the man's question looking to respond. "It went well. It was a little rough at first, but Jaune was able to win him over with his amazing cooking skills."

Turning to address his son, Kiritsugu smiles down at him. "I see. That's good. I was worried that you may have had trouble with making friends considering your appearance, but it seems everything turned out fine."

"Yep, I don't think Ja-chan is gonna have any problems making friends now. All he has to do is cook them up a meal and WHAM instant friendship."

Finishing up his rice Jaune looks down at his bowl uncertainly and mumbles to himself. "I don't think it'll be that easy."

With dinner finished up Jaune gathered the dishes and began to clean up. "I'll be heading home now. See you later."

With their guest gone the two are left to discuss the rest of the day to each other.

"So, what did you do today?" Even though today had more going on for him, Jaune was still curious as to what he did without him around.

"Oh, nothing much. I mostly sat outside on the patio. It was a quiet day overall."

Jaune looks at his father with a dead flat stare, not at all amused by the man's response. "So, basically you lazed around all day. Just like any other day when we aren't doing magecraft training."

If Kiritsugu was insulted, he didn't show it as he simply chuckled at his son's comment. "I suppose I did. Speaking of magecraft training, I think it would be a good idea if you cut back a little on how much time you spend practicing spells."

Shocked at his father's request Jaune quickly stands up. "WHAT! Why should I stop my spell practice? I don't have time to take things slow. You said so yourself."

Removing his fingers after using them to cover his ear's from Jaune's outburst Kiritsugu raises his hands to calm Jaune down. "I didn't say stop. I said cut back a little. If you spend too much time only practicing magecraft I'm afraid that you may burn yourself out, both metaphorically and literally."

Sitting back down Jaune thought of his father's words and took them into consideration. "Well what do you think I should do the rest of the time. I have a friend now, but I can't spend every day with him."

"I don't know. How about you join me with my afternoon naps."

"No thanks. I'd rather be a constructive member of society." Jaune waved his had side to side as he deadpanned.

Huffing in mock pain Kiritsugu soon lets out a sigh. "Then maybe you should try reading. It wouldn't hurt for you to read some books."

"Reading? What would I read?" Jaune asks his father for advice on what he should consider.

Thinking for a second Kiritsugu decides what would be best for Jaune to read. "I'm not sure. The only books I have here are old historical and mythological books. I'm not sure they would interest a child."

' _I had them so I could have research material during the Grail War to look up a servant's history. Now they just gather dust in the shed.'_

Jaune shrugs at his father's response, "Better than nothing. At least I can study a little while I'm at it."

"Alright then. They're in the shed towards the back. Go ahead and read as many as you want."

Leaving his father behind, Jaune heads towards the shed and looks through the collection of books to find something that interests him.

' _There seems to be a lot back here.'_ Gazing upon the mountain of books in wonder Jaune looks through the bottom row to see what books may interest him. _'Let's see… the Ma-mahabsomething… The Epic of Beowulf… Psalms of Solomon… Iranian folklore… The Story of Saint Martha… The Old Man of The Mountain… Maybe I'll check these out later. What else is there?'_

As though Fate itself answered his question moonlight creeped up the stack and stopped upon a certain book near the top of the stack. The now emphasized piece of literature caught Jaune's attention so he made his way up the stack, careful not to unbalance the mountain beneath him.

Nearing the top, he outstretches his hand to reach the book, _'All… most… there.'_ The books below swayed back and forth, moving him close enough to grab the book and attempt to steady himself. Taking a moment to let out a sigh of relief he inspects what he just risked his life to obtain.

' _Let's see here… The Legend of King Arthur. Sounds interesting.'_ He was so focused with the book that he didn't notice some fall out below him before it was too late. Hearing the stack begin to crumble he only had time to say one thing.

"Oh n-!"

All that can be heard after that is the thumping sound of stacks of books falling like stacks of dominos one by one.

Hearing the commotion Kiritsugu races to the shed to check on his son. "Jaune! Is everything alright?!" Seeing the heap of books and dust in the air he can assume what happened. An outstretched hand can be seen near the center so he begins to move the books away from his hopefully uninjured son.

When he uncovers Jaune's face Kiritsugu notices that he's staring at his father with a deadpan look. "You know… this feels familiar."

Taking a moment to process what he said Kiritsugu begins to laugh. Jaune soon joins in. The two laugh for another minute or two before quieting down.

"So, what book did you want so badly that you ricked your life for it?" Kiritsugu asks his son in a teasing manner, wondering what could be so important that he would risk his safety for it.

Looking away embarrassed that he didn't have a quippy response to his dad's teasing he holds out the book that he's been holding this entire time. "Th-this one." His voice is quiet, almost mute, but Kiritsugu picks up what he said.

"Well then, let's have a look shall we." Nodding to his father Jaune hands him the book. As he looks at the cover he's surprised to see what Jaune had picked out from the dozens of other stories to choose from in the stack. _'Of all the ones to choose. Is the Fate playing its cruel game with us? Or is this something to do with_ _ **Avalon**_ _? It seems more and more odd occurrences keep popping up with Jaune around.'_ "Why don't we get this cleaned up for now. Afterwards we can go back inside and you can start reading."

Swiftly cleaning the mess the two head inside and Jaune begins to read his new book.

 **8 months later**

It's been almost a year now sense Jaune had been adopted by Kiritsugu. During his time with his new father Kiritsugu would sometimes leave to go on what he called 'business trips' every now and then. Whenever he would come back he would have a saddened face for a few days before returning to his regular cheery, lazy self.

Taiga kept her promise and practiced kendo with Jaune in the dojo at the Emiya residence. Well calling it practice may not be the correct term. Survival training would fit better. She wasn't kidding when she said she didn't know how to hold back.

" _Alright Ja-chan, another four rounds and we can call it a day."_ The tiger was having fun playing with her pray as it laid exhausted on the dojo's wooden surface.

Breathing heavily from the continues rounds of what he called 'try not to die', Jaune got back to his feet to begin the next round. Settling into a stance he prepared to begin his next survival mission.

" _Whenever you're ready Fuji-nee."_ Gripping his Kendo sword firmer he waits for his torture- I mean instructor to begin the round.

Settling herself into a stance like her opponents Taiga shouts for the match to start. The next instant the tiger pounces forward and begins to cover the distance quickly. Knowing he can't beat her in speed or power Jaune settle for a defensive stance and prepares to parry her strike.

Seeing her coming in from his right Jaune attempts to redirect her strike and leave her open for him to move in for his own attack. As the sword approaches it stops inches from Jaune's own sword before Taiga spins and attacks from the left.

Having no time to bring around his sword to block Jaune jumps back, dodging the slash. Gaining some distance, he repositions himself as Taiga begins her assault. A flurry of strikes and slashes attack him with little time to block one strike before another comes.

' _If I keep blocking like this I'll exhaust myself before the round ends. I need to try and minimize how much energy I use for each attempt.'_

As the assault continues Jaune begins to diverge his energy to the attacks that had the most power behind them.

" _Grrr. Stop just blocking! You need to attack at some point!"_ Taiga seems to be growing frustrated for Jaune's continues denial of her attacks. Her attacks begin to throw more power into them with each passing second.

' _I won't be able to hold off much longer! I need to make an opening!'_ Knowing he doesn't have much strength left he waits for the right moment to make an opening.

It seems an opportunity is about to present itself. Taiga brings her sword back for an overhead strike to finish the round. Waiting until the sword is inches from him Jaune brings up his sword to parry the attacking sword to his left and swings his sword, aiming for her exposed stomach.

"That's the match." A new voice calls from the side. Turning to see who it was he saw Kiritsugu with his hand raised in the air, signaling the match was over.

Taking a few moments to take in what's happened he looks to his father curiously. "Did I… win?" Slightly hopeful that he had finally won a match he asked if he actually landed his strike.

Kiritsugu shakes his head, pointing to Jaune's neck. Taiga's sword was pressed against the spot between his neck and shoulder. Lowering his head in defeat Jaune accepts that he lost again. "So… it's the same as always, huh." Letting out a tired sigh he chalks up another loss.

Shaking his head again Kiritsugu moves his finger to Taiga's stomach. "Not quite." Looking up to see what Kiritsugu was talking about he sees his own sword… pressed against Taiga's stomach. "It's a draw."

Taiga seems stunned by this at first before dropping her sword and picking Jaune up in a crushing hug. _"I'm so proud! You landed a strike on me! Even if it was a draw that's still incredible!"_ Spinning the still stunned 8-year-old around in a hug she makes her way to Kiritsugu, setting Jaune down in front of him.

Resting his hand on his son's head he ruffles his hair. "You did very well for matching Taiga-chan using 10% of her strength."

Pushing his father's hand off his head he looks up to him confused. "10%?" Turning to Taiga for an answer he notices she suddenly found the ceiling very interesting along with the sudden desire to whistle an inconspicuous tune. "I thought you didn't know how to hold back

"I… may have learned to. I couldn't just keep beating you in a couple of minutes each time." Scratching her cheek, she smiles nervously at him.

"Haaaa, I suppose it's alright. Even if it was at 10% I was still able to match you so it's fine." Turning back to his father he asks why he was here.

"Humph. Can't a man walk around his own house or check in on his son without there being a need for it?" With how pouty he gets sometimes and with how much of the house chores does it feels like their roles are reversed sometimes.

"Normally yes, but this is you were talking about. Usually you just say out on the patio in the sun or inside with the TV all day you lazy old man." It seems Jaune hasn't let up on his jabs that he gives his father, even after spending nearly a year with him.

As though a giant arrow with 'Lazy Old Man' written on it struck him he slumped to the side depressed. "So mean. My son is so mean to his father."

Taiga worried over the depressed Kiritsugu, chastising Jaune for being disrespectful towards his father. Sense Jaune could land a hit Taiga decided to call it a day and they head towards the house to eat lunch together.

As they eat the meal Jaune made, with extra portions going to Taiga, they discuss the on goings of the week and events coming up. After lunch was over Taiga leaves for the day to finish some homework she has and bids goodbye.

"We'll hold off on training until you've rested up later tonight. For now, just relax." After his exhausting match with Taiga Kiritsugu believed it to be best for Jaune to rest up.

Nodding Jaune heads to his room to grab the most recent book he'd been reading.

"The Ring of The Nibelung. So, you moved onto Norse mythology I see."

Jaune has taken quite an interest in stories involving heroes and other mythological and historical figures. "Ya. I got done with most of the major Greek books and some of the Roman ones. I wanted to try something a little different so I thought Norse was the best choice."

Having read about many of the great works and myths of Greece, ranging from the twelve Labors of Herakles, to the invincible warrior Achilles, the goddess of the Hunt Artemis, and the hero Perseus, Jaune had exhausted most of the books down to nothing.

"I see. Well it's nice to see that you have such an interest besides magecraft and training." Kiritsugu was concerned for a while that Jaune was a little empty as a person sense all he did was magecraft and kendo training. Issei came over every now and then, but that still didn't shake the concern he had.

Unknown to Kiritsugu was the small obsession Jaune was forming with the heroes in the different stories. He looked at them almost in the same light as he did his father, but he still held Kiritsugu much higher than them.

"I enjoy the stories. Though I don't get some of them. Like the story of Medea. It starts out like a normal heroic story, but soon it devolves into a nightmare with Medea betrayed by the one she was forced to love by the gods and later became a witch due to her anger. I know what she did was cruel, but it doesn't really seem wrong. Am I bad for thinking that?" The whole story was conflicting for the boy. While he didn't agree with how she took her revenge, he can't say that he thought she was totally in the wrong.

Leaning back closes his eyes with a sigh. "I see. While it's true that Medea did commit several atrocities, I agree that her anger over her betrayal was somewhat reasonable. I'm sure you've read some other stories where the hero or the protagonist does some questionable things which they believe to be right or justified. This is because as many people as there are in the world there are also as many different views and beliefs. What may seem wrong to one person can be a way of living to another. Sometimes things can't be grouped into just good and evil."

Looking his son in the eyes he sees if he understands what he's saying as he gets a nod.

"Ya I think I get it. Because not everyone is the same there are bound to be different views taken from any situation, right?"

Nodding in acknowledgement at his son's answer Kiritsugu speaks up again. "Why don't we save more of this talk for later? For now, just rest and read your book. After that we'll get to some magecraft training."

Agreeing with his dad's request Jaune goes back to his book and rests up for the training later tonight.


	5. IMPORTANT

**Hello everyone. I want to let you know this isn't an update. I wanted to put this up in all my stories to let everyone know that I plan to rewrite Knight of Oppai and probably From Shield to Sword in the near future. For the latter I plan to wait until the Heavens Feel movie gets released on DVD, so I can watch it and get more info on that route.**

 **The other thing I wanted to mention is that I plan to put up a poll to see how you guys want me to update stories. Whether you want me to update a specific story for a month or alternate every other week between them. So go to my profile and vote on the poll to let me know.**


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